Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
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Northern Thailand's biggest botulism outbreak to date occurred on 14 March 2006 and affected 209 people. Of these, 42 developed respiratory failure, and 25 of those who developed respiratory failure were referred to 9 high facility hospitals for treatment of severe respiratory failure and autonomic nervous system involvement. Among these patients, we aimed to assess the relationship between the rate of ventilator dependence and the occurrence of treatment by day 4 versus day 6 after exposure to bamboo shoots (the source of the botulism outbreak), as well as the relationship between ventilator dependence and negative inspiratory pressure. ⋯ Patients receiving botulinum antitoxin on day 4 had decreased ventilator dependency. In addition, for patients with foodborne botulism, an effective referral system and team of specialists are needed.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Emergence of Legionella pneumophila pneumonia in patients receiving tumor necrosis factor-alpha antagonists.
Patients treated with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) antagonists have an increased risk of infection, but infection due to Legionella pneumophila has rarely been described in patients receiving such therapy. ⋯ L. pneumophila pneumonia is a potentially severe but curable infection that might complicate anti-TNF-alpha therapy. In patients receiving anti-TNF-alpha who develop pneumonia, legionellosis should be systematically investigated, and first-line antibiotic therapy should be efficient against L. pneumophila.
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Venomous animals are a significant health problem for rural populations in many parts of the world. Given the current level of the international mobility of individuals and the inquisitiveness of travelers, clinicians and travel clinics need to be able to give advice on the prevention, first aid, and clinical management of envenoming. Health professionals often feel overwhelmed by the taxonomy of venomous animals; however, venomous animals can be grouped, using a simple set of criteria, into cnidarians, venomous fish, sea snakes, scorpions, spiders, hymenoterans, and venomous terrestrial snakes. ⋯ Supplies of life-saving antivenoms are scarce, and this scarcity particularly affects rural populations in resource-poor settings. Travel clinics and hospitals in highly industrialized areas predominantly see patients with injuries caused by accidents involving marine animals: in particular, stings by venomous fish and skin damage caused by jellyfish. However, globally, terrestrial venomous snakes are the most important group of venomous animals.
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Evidence-based guidelines for the management of patients with Lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis (formerly known as human granulocytic ehrlichiosis), and babesiosis were prepared by an expert panel of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. These updated guidelines replace the previous treatment guidelines published in 2000 (Clin Infect Dis 2000; 31[Suppl 1]:1-14). ⋯ Tables list the doses and durations of antimicrobial therapy recommended for treatment and prevention of Lyme disease and provide a partial list of therapies to be avoided. A definition of post-Lyme disease syndrome is proposed.